ABSTRACT
The celebration of the feminist centennials in 2005 reminded Filipinos of the long history of women’s activism. Looking back over a hundred years, the feminist project could be read as a process of rethinking ‘the Filipino woman’. The unique historical context-from the pre-colonial, post-colonial and transnational-has framed the debates about the woman question, with activists particularly selfconscious that their theoretical perspectives be ‘home-grown’ and distinct from what they perceived to be an alien animal called ‘Western Feminisms’.Andyet, the international and transnational context of the Filipino women’s movements was just as vital as the local/national one. The history of colonialism and the economic position of the Philippines in the global south were critical to the analysis of the ‘woman question’. International movements and international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) had an impact on activist agendas, with Filipina activists in turn also contributing to global feminist debates.
